1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print relay device, a print system, a print relay device control method, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A content print system in which a print instruction is transmitted from a client to a server and the server that has received the print instruction converts the content to be printed into print data has been proposed. The cloud computing that has been attracting attention is also one of system architectures for providing a service from a server to a client.
As described above, there has conventionally been known the presence of a form in which a Web server provides a service to a client. A cloud computing that has recently been attracting attention is also a form in which a Web server provides a service to a client. A main feature of the cloud computing is that data conversion and data processing are executed in a distributed manner using many computing resources so as to process requests from many clients in a simultaneous manner. At present, too many vendors provide various types of services by implementing Web services on a cloud computing environment for realizing the cloud computing in a disorderly way.
Among vendors who provide services on a cloud computing environment, Google (registered trademark) is a notable vendor. Google (registered trademark) not only establishes many large-scale data centers but also develops a data communication structure between devices and services so as to provide services in cooperation with devices. For example, Google (registered trademark) has developed a data communication structure for providing services in cooperation with image forming devices and has disclosed an interface for providing data communication between the cloud computing environment prepared by Google (registered trademark) and image forming devices. In this system, the image forming device receives a print request from a service and executes printing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-196054 discloses a system in which a client that has received a print request transmits client information and a print data generation request to a server and the server acquires print control information corresponding to client information to thereby generate print data.
There might be a case where a print relay device is provided that provides a print relay service between an image print device such as a printer and a print service device that provides a print service on a cloud computing environment. By providing a print relay device serving as a relay server, a vendor device that provides a print service can readily register/manage a printer and provide value-added services such as aggregation.
However, in the Google's (registered trademark) cloud environment, conventional printers, “printers having a dedicated interface implemented”, and “printers connected to a proxy PC having a dedicated interface implemented” need to be managed in a different way. The “printers having a dedicated interface implemented” and the “printers connected to a proxy PC having a dedicated interface implemented” can be connected to a print service device without passing through a print relay device. Hence, the print relay device has no means for knowing printer information about the “printers having a dedicated interface implemented” and the “printers connected to a proxy PC having a dedicated interface implemented”. When a different print procedure is employed, the print relay device may not be able to gather printer information, the print relay device cannot integrally manage printers based on experience values such as information collection, print suppression, or the like. In other words, all the printers cannot be managed or services cannot be provided to all the printers by simply providing a relay server.